Optical apparatus and support stand thereof

ABSTRACT

A support stand made of sheet metal is cooperated with an optical module and a reflective module. The support stand includes a base and a back frame. The optical module is disposed on the base. To enhance its structural rigidity, the base substantially has a “ ” or inverted “U” shape as viewed from an optical axis. The back frame is connected with the base, and the reflective module is disposed on the back frame. An optical apparatus with the above support stand is also disclosed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)on Patent Application No(s). 201210199227.4 filed in People's Republicof China on Jun. 15, 2012, the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to an optical apparatus and a supportstand thereof, and in particular, to an optical apparatus comprisingsheet metal and a support stand thereof.

2. Related Art

The commercial ultra-short-throw projector has the image magnificationmuch larger than that of the common projector, so it needs longer lightpath and better precision of optical components to achieve the desiredmagnification and quality.

In order to provide the accurate projection path, the ultra-short-throwprojector needs the casting member with high precision to carry and fixthe relative optical components (e.g. the optical engine, optical lensor reflective mirror) so as to achieve the demands of optical quality.However, the manufacturer must seriously control the manufacturingprocesses and machines to achieve the demands of high precise castingmembers. This serious control makes the manufacturing cost of thecasting member as well as the ultra-short-throw projector veryexpensive. Unfortunately, the expensive ultra-short-throw projector hasbad market competitiveness and is easily eliminated from the market.

Therefore, it is an important subject to provide an optical apparatusand its support stand with lower production cost and highcompetitiveness.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, an objective of the present invention is toprovide an optical apparatus and its support stand with lower productioncost and high competitiveness.

To achieve the above objective, the present invention discloses asupport stand, which is made of sheet metal and cooperated with anoptical module and a reflective module. The support stand comprises abase and a back frame. The optical module is disposed on the base alongan optical axis and the base is substantially has a “

” or inverted “U” shape as viewed from an optical axis. Besides, theback frame is connected with the base and the reflective module isdisposed on the back frame. The material of the support stand comprisesa galvanized steel sheet, and the support stand can be manufactured bycutting, bending, punching and extending.

In addition, the support stand further comprises a plurality ofsupporting elements penetrating through the base for contacting againsta plane. The support stand may further comprise at least a firstadjusting unit connected with the back frame and the base, so that theback frame can be connected to the base through the first adjustingunit. Thus, an inclination angle is formed between the back frame andthe base, and the first adjusting unit can adjusts the inclinationangle. Herein, the first adjusting unit adjusts and fixes theinclination angle according to the image reflected by the reflectivemodule, thereby fixing the reflective angle of the reflective module.Besides, the first adjusting unit comprises a screw and a washer. Byadjusting the screw and the washer, the inclination angle between theback frame and the base can be changed and fixed.

Furthermore, the supporting stand further comprises at least a secondadjusting unit disposed on the back frame and contacting against thereflective module. The second adjusting unit moves the reflective moduleso as to adjust a swing angle of the reflective module. Herein, thesecond adjusting unit comprises a screw and a connector, and the screwcontacts against the reflective module by the connector.

The optical apparatus of the present invention is an ultra-short-throwprojector comprising a support stand, an optical module and a reflectivemodule. The support stand is made of sheet metal and comprises a baseand a back frame. The back frame is connected with the base and the baseis substantially has a “

” or inverted “U” shape as viewed from an optical axis. Besides, theoptical module is disposed on the base and the reflective module isdisposed on the back frame. Herein, the material of the back frameincludes galvanized steel sheet and can be manufactured by cutting,bending, punching and extending.

The optical apparatus further comprises a plurality of supportingelements penetrating through the base for contacting against a plane.The support stand may further comprise at least a first adjusting unitconnected with the back frame and the base, so that the back frame canbe connected to the base through the first adjusting unit. Thus, aninclination angle is formed between the back frame and the base, and thefirst adjusting can unit adjusts the inclination angle. Herein, thefirst adjusting unit adjusts and fixes the inclination angle accordingto the image reflected by the reflective module, thereby fixing thereflective angle of the reflective module. Besides, the first adjustingunit comprises a screw and a washer. By adjusting the screw and thewasher, the inclination angle between the back frame and the base can bechanged and fixed.

Furthermore, the supporting stand further comprises at least a secondadjusting unit disposed on the back frame and contacting against thereflective module. The second adjusting unit moves the reflective moduleso as to adjust a swing angle of the reflective module. Herein, thesecond adjusting unit comprises a screw and a connector, and the screwcontacts against the reflective module by the connector.

Additionally, the optical module comprises an optical engine and anoptical lens unit, and the reflective module comprises a reflectivemirror. The optical engine emits at least one light beam and the lightbeam passes through the optical lens unit and is then projected on thereflective mirror. Then, the reflective mirror reflects the light beamto form an image.

As mentioned above, the support stand of the invention is made of sheetmetal and includes a base and a back frame. The base substantially has a“

” or inverted “U” shape as viewed from an optical axis so as to enhancethe structural rigidity of the metal sheet (base). This configurationcan prevent the deformation of the metal sheet as carrying the opticalcomponents and thus remain the precision of the optical apparatus. Sincethe metal sheet has lower manufacturing cost, the productcompetitiveness of the optical apparatus is increase.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thesubsequent detailed description and accompanying drawings, which aregiven by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of thepresent invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are an assembled view and an exploded view,respectively, of an optical apparatus according to a preferredembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2C are perspective views of different aspects of thebase of the optical apparatus;

FIG. 2B and FIG. 2D are schematic views of the bases of FIG. 2A and FIG.2C along the optical axis, respectively; and

FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C are a partial exploded view and two partial assembledviews of an optical apparatus according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will be apparent from the following detaileddescription, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings,wherein the same references relate to the same elements.

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are an assembled view and an exploded view,respectively, of an optical apparatus 1 according to a preferredembodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the optical apparatus 1 of the embodimentof the invention is, for example but not limited to, anultra-short-throw projector and comprises a support stand 11, an opticalmodule 12 and a reflective module 13.

The support stand 11 is made of sheet metal and cooperates with theoptical module 12 and the reflective module 13 in order to support theoptical module 12 and the reflective module 13. The sheet metal haslower production cost, so it is able to increase the competitiveness ofthe optical apparatus 1. The support stand 11 can be made of galvanizedsteel sheet, hot rolled sheet steel, cold rolled sheet steel or coldrolled hot dip galvanized sheet steel and can be manufactured bycutting, bending, punching and extending. In this case, the supportstand 11 is an example of galvanized steel sheet.

In this embodiment, the support stand 11 comprises a base 111 and a backframe 112, and the back frame 112 is connected to one side of the base111. The optical module 12 is disposed on the base 111 along an opticalaxis and the reflective module 13 is disposed on the back frame 112.Herein, the optical module 12 is screwed onto the base 111 (not shown)and the reflective module 13 is locked on the back frame 112. Thereflective module 13 includes a reflective mirror 131 (such as a convexmirror). In addition, the optical module 12 comprises an optical engine121 and an optical lens unit 122. The optical engine 121 emits at leastone light beam L, which passes through the optical lens unit 122 andthen projected to the reflective module 13. Afterwards, the light beam Lreflected by the reflective mirror 131 is projected on a screen (notshown) so as to form an image. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1A,the direction of the optical axis is identical to the direction of thelight beam L.

To replace the metal casting of support stand, the support stand 11 madeof steel sheet in this embodiment has to strengthen its structuralrigidity. FIG. 2A and FIG. 2C are perspective views of different aspectsof the bases 111 and 111 a of the optical apparatus 1, and FIG. 2B andFIG. 2D are schematic views of the bases 111 and 111 a of FIG. 2A andFIG. 2C as viewed from the optical axis, respectively.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the base 111 substantially has a “

” shape as viewed from the optical axis. Alternatively, referring toFIGS. 2C and 2D, the base 111 a substantially has an inverted “U” shapeas viewed from the optical axis. The base 111 with the “

” shape or the base 111 a with the inverted “U” shape can enhance thestructural rigidity of the sheet metal so as to prevent the deformationof the base 111 or 111 a as carrying the optical module 12 and remainingthe precision of the optical apparatus 1.

With reference to FIG. 1B, the optical apparatus 1 further comprises aplurality of supporting elements 14 penetrating through the base 111 forcontacting against a plane (e.g. a tabletop). In this embodiment, thesupporting elements 14 are knock-out screws, and four supportingelements 14 are configured. The configuration of the supporting elements14 can further enhance the structural rigidity of the base 111 so as toprevent the easy deformation of the metal sheet with poor rigidity. Tobe noted, if three supporting elements 14 are configured on the base111, they are preferably arranged as the points of an isosceles trianglefrom the top view of the base 111.

FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C are a partial exploded view and two partial assembledviews of an optical apparatus 1.

Referring to FIG. 3A, the optical apparatus 1 further comprises at leasta first adjusting unit 15 connected with the back frame 112 and the base111. The back frame 112 is connected to the base 111 via the firstadjusting unit 15, and an inclination angle is formed between the backframe 112 and the base 111. In other words, the back frame 112 isobliquely disposed on the base 111 through the first adjusting unit 15.Thus, the inclination angle between the back frame 112 and the base 111can be adjusted by adjusting the first adjusting unit 15. In thisembodiment, two first adjusting units 15 are adopted, and each of themincludes a screw 151 and a washer 152 (C-shaped washer). The firstadjusting units 15 are able to adjust the inclination angle according tothe image reflected by the reflective mirror 131 of the reflectivemodule 13, and fix the desired reflective angle between the back frame112 and the base 111.

In more specific, referring to FIGS. 1, 3A and 3B, a user can controlthe light beam L emitted from the optical engine 121 to pass through theoptical lens unit 122, to achieve the reflective module 13, and then tobe reflected to the screen so as to display an image. Besides, the usercan adjust the depth that the screw 151 is inserted into the screw holeof the back frame 112 according to the focus and resolution of the imagereflected from the reflective module 13. This adjustment can control thegap between the back frame 112 and the base 111 so as to adjust theinclination degree (elevation angle) of the reflective module 13. Toadjust the screw 151 inserted into the screw hole for obtaining betterresolution of the image, the user can put a corresponding washer 152 inthe gap between the back frame 112 and the base 111, and then screw thescrew 151 tightly so as to fix the inclination angle between the backframe 112 and the base 111. Moreover, the elevation angle of thereflective mirror 131 of the reflective module 13 can be fixed.Accordingly, the elevation angle of the reflective module 13 can bedynamically adjusted so as to solve the precision problem caused by thestructural rigidity of the support stand 11.

In addition, referring to FIGS. 3B and 3C, the optical apparatus 1further comprises at least a second adjusting unit 16 disposed on theback frame 112 and contacting against the reflective module 13. Thesecond adjusting unit 16 can move the reflective module 112 so as toadjust a swing angle θ of the reflective module 13. In this embodiment,the reflective module 13 further has two protruding portions 132connected to the top and bottom sides of the reflective mirror 131, andthe back frame 112 further has two locking portions 113 disposedopposite to the protruding portions 132, respectively. The reflectivemodule 13 can be disposed on the back frame 112 by connecting theprotruding portions 132 with the locking portions 113. As shown in FIG.3C, two second adjusting units 16 are adopted, and each of the secondadjusting units 16 has a screw 161 and a connector 162. Two screws 161pass through two sides of the back frame 112, respectively, and contactagainst two opposite sides of the reflective module 13 through theconnectors 162. Thus, by screwing the screws 161 to make a move of theconnectors 162, the swing angle θ of the reflective module 13 isadjusted. As shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, the reflective module 13 is swungabout the protruding portion 132. Accordingly, it is feasible to obtainthe image reflected from the reflective mirror 131 with betterresolution by adjusting the second adjusting unit 16. Moreover, theswing angle θ of the reflective module 13 is able to be dynamicallyadjusted so as to solve the precision problem caused by the structuralrigidity of the support stand 11.

In addition, the optical apparatus 1 may further comprise a casing (notshown), and the support stand 11, the optical module 12 and thereflective module 13 are all accommodated in the casing.

In summary, the support stand of the invention is made of sheet metaland includes a base and a back frame. The base substantially has a “

” or inverted “U” shape as viewed from an optical axis so as to enhancethe structural rigidity of the metal sheet (base). This configurationcan prevent the deformation of the metal sheet as carrying other opticalcomponents and thus remain the precision of the optical apparatus. Sincethe metal sheet has lower manufacturing cost, the productcompetitiveness of the optical apparatus is increase.

Although the present invention has been described with reference tospecific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in alimiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, aswell as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled inthe art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims willcover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A support stand, which is made of sheet metal andcooperated with an optical module and a reflective module, comprising: abase, wherein the optical module is disposed on the base along anoptical axis, and the base substantially has a “

” or an inverted “U” shape as viewed from the optical axis; and a backframe connected with the base, wherein the reflective module is disposedon the back frame.
 2. The support stand of claim 1, wherein the materialof the support stand comprises a galvanized steel sheet.
 3. The supportstand of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of supporting elementspenetrating through the base for contacting against a plane.
 4. Thesupport stand of claim 1, further comprising: at least a first adjustingunit connected with the back frame and the base for forming aninclination angle between the back frame and the base.
 5. The supportstand of claim 4, wherein the first adjusting unit has a screw passingthrough the back frame and the base, and a washer disposed between theback frame and the base.
 6. The supporting stand of claim 1, furthercomprising: at least a second adjusting unit disposed on the back frameand contacting against the reflective module, wherein the secondadjusting unit moves the reflective module to adjust a swing anglethereof.
 7. The support stand of claim 6, wherein the second adjustingunit has a screw passing through the back frame and a connector forcoupling with the screw and contacting against the reflective module. 8.An optical apparatus, comprising: a support stand, which is made ofsheet metal and comprises a base and a back frame, wherein the backframe is connected with the base, and the base is substantially has a “

” or an inverted “U” shape viewed from an optical axis; an opticalmodule disposed on the base; and a reflective module disposed on theback frame.
 9. The optical apparatus of claim 8, wherein the material ofthe support stand comprises a galvanized steel sheet.
 10. The opticalapparatus of claim 8, further comprising: a plurality of supportingelements penetrating through the base for contacting against a plane.11. The optical apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: at least afirst adjusting unit connected with the back frame and the base forforming an inclination angle between the back frame and the base. 12.The optical apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first adjusting unit hasa screw passing through the back frame and the base, and a washerdisposed between the back frame and the base.
 13. The optical apparatusof claim 10, further comprising: at least a second adjusting unitdisposed on the back frame and contacting against the reflective module,wherein the second adjusting unit moves the reflective module so as toadjust a swing angle thereof.
 14. The optical apparatus of claim 13,wherein the second adjusting unit has a screw passing through the backframe and a connector for coupling with the screw and contacting againstthe reflective module.
 15. The optical apparatus of claim 8, wherein theoptical module comprises an optical engine and an optical lens unit, andthe reflective module comprises a reflective mirror.
 16. The opticalapparatus of claim 8, wherein the optical apparatus is anultra-short-throw projector.